Wire-forming machine



(No Model.) l

A. OWEN.

WIRE FORMING MAHINE. y No. 390,893. Patented Oct. 9, 1888'.`

wwf/fv Y www@ UNTTED STATES ATTQNT Ormea.

ALVA OWEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WIRE-FORVHNG MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No 390,893, dated October 9, 1888.

Application tiled August 2, 1F88. Serial No.lil. (No model.)

`0 @ZZ whom, z' may concern:

Be it known that l, ALVA OWEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Wire-Forming Machines,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved machine for forming a certain part of an electric belt manufactured by me, for which Letters Patent of the United States No. 368,546 were granted to me on the 16th day of August, 1887. lhepartreferred to consists of awire fastened along the inner side of one of the elements of a cell and projecting from opposite ends of the latter to connect the said cell electrically with an adjacent cell.

The object of my invention is to provide a machine for bending the wire toward its 0pposite ends in one operation and produce thereby connecting-wires rapidly and with the necessary uniformity as to size and shape.

My invention consists in the general construction of my improved machine; and it further consists in details of construction and combinations of parts.

In the drawings, Figure l is a plan view of my improved machine, showing a zinc element of an electric battery-cell in position with a wire extending from its opposite ends, and illustrating all the parts as they appear at the commencement of an operation of the machine to forni the connecting-wire, Fig. 2, a similar View of the machine with the element in position thereon, showing t-he parts as they appear at the end of a forming operation; Fig. 25. a horizontal section taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 5; Fig. 4., an end view ofthe machine5and Fig. 5,a-section on theline v of Fig. l,viewe l in the direction of the arrows.

A is a base-plate, preferably of metal7 arranged with screw-holes t, at which it may be fastened upon a workbench or other support. A is a separate or integral part of the plate A upon the under side, and of about the same thickness vas the latter, through which the screw-holes t also pass. The office ofthe part A is to raise the plate A the distance of the thickness of the former above its su pport, whereby parts (hereinafter described) which lie underneath the plate A may be free to operate without coming into contact with the support upon which the device is fastened.

B B are turnplates, the faces of which lie, preferably, flush with the surface of the bedplate A and which extend to the under side 0f thelatter, fitting snugly through circular openings provided therein. The tu rn-plates B B are placed a predetermined distance apart and operate as shafts for gear-wheels C C', which are of larger diameter than the turn-plates B B', and are supported at the under side of the plate A. The gear wheels C C are in mesh with each other, and held in position against the under side of the plate A by a casing, E. The sides of the casing E terminate atpoints s .9',while its base extends beyond said points, as shown by dotted line in Fig. 3, to afford the necessary support to the gear-wheel C.

D is a lever connected eccentrieally to the ,geacwheel C and extending therefrom beyond the base-plate A. The terminatingpoints s s of the sides of the casing E operate as stops to limit the play of the lever D to a half-revolution.

As thus far described, the mechanism of my improved device corresponds substantially with that of a machine for forming wire clips and constituting the subject of a separate concurrent application for Letters Patent of similar title to the present, and the novel. features and manner of operation of said mechanism are fully set forth in said concurrent application.

The distinguishing feature of the present device is the forming-die device, hereinafter described.

The turn-plates B and E are provided, rel' IOO the bed-plate A and shaped to form, with the raised part p of the plate G, a recess, I, to re ceive elements X during the operations of the machine, as hereinafter described, to bend and form the wires of the latter.

An element, X, having` the ends of a wire, Y,pro jecting from its opposite ends, is inserted into the recess I,which it fits snugly and which causes it to be in the proper position with relation to the formers F F', which latter at the beginning ofthe operation are in the positions shown in Fig. l. The lever D is then turned to the stop s, which causes the gear-wheels C C", and consequently the turn -plates B B', to turn in opposite directions. The formers F F', as they revolve from their initial posi tions (shown in Fig. l) to theirfinal position, (shown in Fig. 2,) engage the wire Y toward ils opposite ends and bend it around the 0pposite ends of the block p, which latter are square and tit the angles of the edges q Q' of the formers F F', as shown. At the end ofthe forming operation the wire appears bent as represented in Fig. 2, which is the ultimate shape desired. To prevent the ends of the wire Y, while engaged bythe formers F F during tne operation ol' bending, from slpping ont of contact with the formers, I pro vide notches m in the ends of the latter (see Fig. 4) to receive the wire. rIhe element X tits so tightly into the recess I that at the end of the operation of forming lhe wire Y it becomes necessary to discharge it from the machine-as in the machine before mentioned as forming the subject of a concurrent application-and I therefore provide automatic discharge mechanism K for the purpose.

An opening, L, is provided in the bed-plate A between the turn-plates B B', and a shaft, 7s, of the discharge mechanism K extends therefrom to the end of the bed-plate A. In

the opening L the shaft carries a finger or striker, k', and at its opposite end,beyond the end of the bedplate, a wiper, 762. A spring, 0, serves to keep the wiper in vertical position, whereby it extends into the path ofthe lever D. As the lever D is forced backward from the position shownin Fie. 2 to itsinitial position,(shown in Fig.1,) it operates the discharge mechanism by engaging the wiper 7a2, Which turns the shaft k and causes the finger k' to strike the under side of the eiementX. and thus dislodge it and throw it from the machine.

XVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a machine for bending and forming wire, the combination, with the bedplate A, tnrn'plates B B', and mechanism for operating them,of the forming-die, comprising the block p,rigid upon thebase-piate A,and the foi-mers F F', rigidly connected tothe turn-plates, substantiaily as described.

2. In a machine for bending and forming wire, the combination, with the bed-plate A, turlrliilates B B', and mechanism for operating them, of the forming-die comprising the block p, rigid upon the base-plate, and the formers F F', rigidly connected to the turn-plates,and a recess, I, adjacent to the block p, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In a machine for bending and 'forming wire, the combination, with the bed-plate A, tnrn-plates B land mechanism for operating the same, of the forming-die comprising the block p, rigid upon the base-plate, and the formers F F', rigidly connected to the turn plates, a reress, I, adjacentto the block p, an opening, L, below the recess I, and discharge mechanism K,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

ALVA OWEN. In presence of- J. W. DYRENFORTH, M. J. Bownns. 

